~Ari~

"Duelists may I have your attention. The second duel of the finals is about to begin." Roland says.

"That's right! Now the selector will choose the next two duelists!" Mokuba says.

The balls spin around in the Blue-Eyes selector until one of them decides to come out. A ball eventually comes out, "And the first duelist is number 6; Sabrina Cafford!" Roland says.

My eyes widen, "I wonder who I'll be dueling." I say.

"I'm sure you'll do fine whoever it is." Yami says squeezing my hand

The next ball then comes out of the selector, "And Sabrina's opponent will be number 7; Marik Ishtar!" Roland says.

My eyes widen even more and my heart starts pounding. I have to face Marik?! Well, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised; one of us had to face him sometime. I look over at Yami, who seems worried. "I'll do fine. You said it yourself." I say.

"Yeah, but, I didn't expect you to face Marik. I meant some other person like Kaiba or something." He says.

"Well, this is how it's going to be. I'll see you by the dueling field alright?"

"Okay, I'm cheering for you all the way." He says kissing my cheek.

I hug him quickly and then walk over to the elevator. Marik and Roland enter soon after and the door closes. The elevator is dead silent, almost like a graveyard. The doors then reopen to bring us to the dueling field. The field rises as soon as we enter it. "You can do it Sabrina!" Joey says.

"Don't let him psych you out!" Yami shouts

I nod at them. "Each player please shuffle each other's deck." Roland says.

I hand Marik my deck and he does the same. I watch his hands the entire time, just to make sure he doesn't pull some kind of scam, or put another card into my deck. I finish shuffling and give his deck back, he does the same. I notice that his eyes don't really show much hate or even the slightness of evil in them. But, who knows what this guy can do.

I walk over to my side of the field. Marik reaches into his cloak and pulls out… the Millennium Rod! "Hey! Don't even think of trying to control me! Play something fair for once!" I shout.

"Very well." He says putting the Rod back into his cloak. Did he just say very well? That's weird. For one, because this is the first time he's talked here, and two because he actually listened.

"Alright then, let's get this duel underway!" I say.

"Prepare to lose."

"I wouldn't count on it." My hand contains; Kaiser Sea Horse, Monster Reborn, Dark Hole, Mystical Elf, Fairy Witch, and Celtic Guardian. "Okay, I'll summon Kaiser Sea Horse in attack mode! That ends my turn." I say.

"I'll play Temple of the Kings. It limits the amount of magic and trap cards you can play in one turn. I also play two cards face-down, which will end my turn. So attack me if you dare." Marik says.

I draw Feral Imp. I won't attack; it's obviously a way for him to trigger one of his face-downs. "Okay, I play Celtic Guardian in attack mode and end my turn." I say.

"I pass this turn."

I draw Heavy Storm. This will be perfect to wipe out his face-downs, but should I really try and risk it being destroyed? I suppose I could try it. "I summon Feral Imp in attack mode! And then I use Heavy Storm!"

"No you won't, I activate Judgment of Anubis! This card will negate the effect of Heavy Storm. And as a second effect, it will destroy every monster on your side of the field, and make you lose Life Points equal to half of their attack points."

"What!?" Now my Life Points are at 1800. Marik sets one card and ends his turn. I draw Soul Exchange and then summon Mystical Elf face-down. Marik passes his turn. I draw Jack's Knight and do the same. Marik passes again. I draw Queen's Knight and summon it in attack mode, "You know, I bet with all these face-downs you have, I don't think you even have one monster card in your deck." I say.

"You'll see soon enough. I activate Embodiment of Apophis! This card is not only a trap; its monsters as well, with an attack power of 1600!"

I draw Meteor of Destruction. "Then I'll switch Queen's Knight into defense mode and activate Meteor of Destruction, giving you 1000 points of damage!"

"Not so fast, I activate Magic Jammer! By discarding one card, I can negate the effect of your Meteor. I pass my next turn."

I draw Spellbinding Circle. "I set one card face-down. Then, I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Kaiser Sea Horse! Kaiser Sea Horse, destroy one of his Embodiments!"

Marik has 3900 Life Points now. "I play Swords of Revealing Light, which prevent your monsters from attack for three turns!"

I draw King's Knight, "I play King's Knight in attack mode and then use his ability to special summon Jack's Knight! Your move."

Marik draws and stops dead. He stares at the card he drew, almost fearfully. What did he draw? He begins to calm down slightly, "I use the effect of Temple of the Kings to seal this card within it. By sealing this card of the Gods, I've sealed your fate!" Marik says.

Card of the Gods?! Did he place his Egyptian God card in there? If so, then I better try and end this quickly. I draw Divine Queen, "Alright, I sacrifice Kaiser Sea Horse and Mystical Elf in order to summon my Divine Queen! When your next turn ends, your Swords of Revealing Light will be gone, so I'll speed it up and end my turn from there."

"But your fate will be sealed here and now. I activate Cup of Sealed Soul! And I also use my face-down, Seal of Serket! With these cards combined, I'm able to summon my Mystical Beast of Serket!"

I cringe at the sight of it. I draw Luster Dragon, "I switch all of my monsters into defense mode and end my turn."

"Running scared are we? Well you should be. Beast of Serket, attack her Queen's Knight! Using the effect of my Serket, it can devoir any monster it destroys and will gain half of that monsters attack points, giving my Serket a power of 3250!"

I draw Dark Magician. I have no choice but to end my turn. Marik sends Serket to attack Divine Queen, giving it an attack power of 4475. I draw Dark Elf and end my turn. Serket attacks King's Knight, giving it 5275 attack. "You know, something inside of me is telling me that I'll win this Marik. That is, if you're the real deal." I say.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that maybe you're not the real Marik. Ever since this tournament started, Marik always hid behind others and made other people do his dirty work. And if you were the real thing, then wouldn't you have added some kind of twist on this duel? Every duel involving you seems to have some kind of catch or something with the Shadow Realm, but this time, there's nothing. Plus, this time, you're playing fair for once."

"Enough of this!" he reaches into his cloak and pulls out the Millennium Rod, "Only the real Marik would wield the Millennium Rod!"

I roll my eyes. The problem is that I don't feel anything coming from his Millennium Rod, it seems completely empty. Marik puts the Rod back into his cloak. He then looks at his Beast of Serket and seems like he wants to attack with it. Then he looks back to the Temple of the Kings with a worried expression on his face. Is he going to play his Egyptian God card?

"Get ready, because I'm going to prove I am the real Marik and by playing my Egyptian God card!"

"Fine, go right ahead. I'm ready for anything you throw at me."

"I offer my Beast of Serket and half of my Life Points to summon the Winged Dragon of Ra! Reveal your strength for the new Pharaoh; King Marik!"

The Temple begins to shake and then emits a huge beam of light that darkens the sky. Lightning begins to appear as the beast shows itself from the Temple. A flaming hawk-like creature then appears through the clouds with piercing red eyes. The wind begins to pick up, making me shutter. "The attack points of my Serket were transferred to Ra, giving it the power of 5275! And once it attacks, you'll wish you never entered this tournament!"

"Fine, maybe I will feel that way. But I will know that I tried my best, so go ahead, launch your attack." I say

I then feel my head emit a slight pain. What's going on? I can feel an aura of rage coming from somewhere nearby. "Winged Dragon of Ra, attack her!" Marik shouts. The beast stays still and doesn't do anything. Why doesn't it attack me?

Ra begins to glitch and almost disappears. Lightning begins to appear near us and almost shocks us. "Ari, get down from there!" Yami shouts.

A bolt of lightning then all of the sudden hits Marik. I notice that the Millennium Rod bursts into pieces. I knew he was a fake! The imposter Marik then falls over unconscious. I go to approach the man, but I hear a roar of thunder. I look up and then end up getting struck by lightning. I fall over in a surge of pain and the world turns black.

I-I need to wake up. Even if that's not Marik, I can't risk giving up. "Get up Ari." Sabrina tells me. "I won't be able to take over now, so please do it."

"I'm not sure if I have the strength." I tell her.

"You do. You're just not using it properly. We have more to strive for than any other Rare Hunter out there."

"I-I'll try."

I open my eyes to notice that the field is still dark and clouded. I struggle to my knees and then weakly get onto my feet. "So the winner of the duel is Sabrina Cafford!" Roland announces.

Alright, we won. The dueling field lowers slightly, giving Yami the chance to run straight for me, "Are you alright?" he asks as he tries to help me keep my balance.

"Y-yeah, I'll be okay. I don't know about him though." I say.

Yami leads me over to the imposter and helps me onto my knees and we try to wake him up. His eyes twitch and he opens them, "Forgive me." He says.

"It's alright. But if you're not Marik, then who is?" I ask.

"My name is Odion and I am only a servant of the real Master Marik." He says pointing to Namu. I knew there was something weird about that guy!

Marik holds the Millennium Rod in his hand, which must be the real one. He also holds his head as if he's in intense pain. "Admit your true identity Marik!" Yami shouts.

Marik turns around to face us, "Yes, I'm the real Marik. So Pharaoh, we finally meet face-to-face. Now at last, I can finish the job my pathetic servants couldn't! Yugi… your Puzzle and power will soon be where they belong." His last few words are demonic, which is different from his normal voice. He then holds his head again in pain

"Oh no, I was afraid of this… Your all in great danger." Odion says, "Beware… the great evil… hidden within. Master Marik has a darker side to him, and I am unable to contain it anymore." With that said, Odion goes unconscious again.

"What is he talking about?" I ask Yami.

"I can't be contained anymore…" Marik says. He then yells in pain loudly.

"Marik, what is going on?" Yami says.

Marik stops clutching his face and the Eye of Wdjat is on his forehead, "I'm finally free again. This means I can do things my way. I was restrained for many years by that fool Odion." He says darkly.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"I'm the true Marik. And I'm not as kind as the other one you've come to know. And soon I'll finish the job he couldn't and strip the Pharaoh of his powers. For I deserve to be Pharaoh, not you. So get ready for the real battle. Once I'm through with you, your Puzzle will be around my neck and you'll be trapped in the world of eternal darkness, along with everyone else here. The only thing that fool Odion was good for is that he proved that only a chosen few can control the Egyptian God cards. The battle of the Gods will soon be upon us!"

Hooray, Yami Marik (or Melvin) is free! Let the murders commence! Next chapter should be up tomorrow maybe.